Question 1

Who do you work with?

Accepted Answer

Our primary work is with institutional asset owners: pensions, endowments, foundations, family offices, and the trustees, investment committees, and staff who steward their capital. We also work with asset managers and general partners whose strategies we believe in, and with the ecosystem partners (multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, NGOs, and alliances) who supply institutional pathways into the categories of investment that close systemic gaps.These are not three separate practices. There are three points of entry into the same work. Asset owners sit at the top of the capital allocation chain, so we orient around them. We work with managers and ecosystem partners in ways that help asset owners deploy capital more effectively in the directions the moment requires.

Question 2

How is Oakledge different from a placement agent or third-party marketer?

Accepted Answer

Placement agents and third-party marketers are paid, typically as a percentage of capital raised, to introduce asset managers to asset owners. Their economic incentive is to make introductions happen.We are not paid that way. We do not accept success fees, finder's fees, or any compensation tied to capital raised. We do not act as an introducer, placement agent, or third-party marketer. Our compensation is structured so that our advice is aligned with substance, not capital flows. This is a deliberate constraint, and it is the reason our judgment can be trusted by asset owners and managers alike.

Question 3

Do you make introductions between asset owners and managers?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes, but only when we have direct knowledge of both parties and a genuine view that an introduction would serve both sides. If we do not believe a manager is a fit for an asset owner's interests, goals, and constraints, we will not make the introduction, regardless of who is paying us.Our value to asset owners depends on their trusting that any manager we bring forward is one we genuinely believe they should know. Our value to managers depends on them trusting that we will not waste their time, or an allocator's, with introductions that do not fit. We do not blanket the field. Every introduction we make is a considered judgment, not a volume play.

Question 4

Do you compete with investment consultants like Callan, Mercer, or Cambridge Associates?

Accepted Answer

No. We work alongside them, and we believe the strongest outcomes for asset owners usually come from strengthening those relationships rather than working around them.We also believe, candidly, that the consulting relationship is one that asset owners often need to lead rather than be led by.Investment consulting is indispensable, but its business models and incentives do not always reward sustained engagement on long-horizon systemic issues. An asset owner who wants to act on those issues frequently has to drive the agenda with its own advisors. Helping asset owners do that well, and helping them get more from the consulting relationships they already have, is part of our work. (Our founder's chapter in The Handbook of System-Level Investing, "How to Work with Your Investment Consultant on a System-Level Issue," develops this in depth.)

Question 5

What size institutions do you work with?

Accepted Answer

All sizes – from some of the largest pension funds and asset managers globally to smaller university endowments, emerging managers, nonprofits and foundations, membership organizations, NGOs, and development organizations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who do you work with?

How is Oakledge different from a placement agent or third-party marketer?

Do you make introductions between asset owners and managers?

Do you compete with investment consultants like Callan, Mercer, or Cambridge Associates?

What size institutions do you work with?

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